Means for preventing the collapse of containers during vacuumizing, sterilizing, andsealing



Aug. 4, 1931. w. B. FENN 1,817,550

MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE COLLAPSE OF CONTAINERS DURINGVACUUMIZING,STERILIZING AND SEALING Filed Feb. 19, 29

WILLIAM B, HEN/V avwen fez 33% A4 3 C] [10111 c4 8 size,

Patented Aug. 4, 1 931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM B. mum, or

manner roar MEANS FOR PREVENTING PORT WASHINGTON, NEW-YORK, ASSIGNOR T0MARGARET F.

WASHINGTON, NEW YORK THE COLLAPSE OF CONTAINERS DURING VACUUMIZING,

STERILIZING; AND SEALING Application filed February 19, 1929. Serial No.341,126.

v This invention relates in general to a novel method and means forpreventing containers of relatively large capacity from collapsingduring the vacuumizing, sterilizing and sealing of said containers uponfilling said containers with food stuffs. I

In general, with regard to the method, the object is to prevent can-s ofrelatively large such as quart and gallon cans, from collapsing duringthe vacuumizing step due to the atmospheric pressure without the can,the object being to vacuumize and sterilize the contents of thecontainer and seal-the container while retaining the walls thereofagainst inward collapse due to atmospheric ressure during the steps.

With regard to the apparatus, one object is to provide a device whichWill attach to the container holding jaws and in part be integraltherewith and container against the aforementioned collapse due to theapplication of external forces.

Another object of this invention is the allocation of magnets atpredetermined points along the length of the container which aredesigned to exert outward pulls at said points when the tendency of thewalls of the container is to collapse under the atmospheric forcesacting thereon.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a method by meansof which valved containers may be vacuumized, filled with any suitablegas and yet retained in their normal shape during said vacuumizingprocess.

One of the further objects of the invention mechanism by means of whichis to provide a being fed to a container the container, upon holdingjaw, has, thereafter, its walls pulled outwardly agamst the atmosphericpressure that 1s caused to bear thereon when said contamer 1svacuumized.

A still further object of this invention is of magnets outside thecylinthe provision of a can to keep said can from drical surfacecollapsing while being vacuumized.

Various other objects and advantages of the': invention than have beenhereinabove mentionedwill be specifically pointed out or retain thewalls of saidwill be apparent hereinafter in the course of the belowdetailed description of the form of the invention shown, in theaccompanying drawings, as preferred use of the various possibleembodiments of the invention; it being understood, naturally, that'suchforms are merely illustrative of some of the many possible combinationsand arrangements of parts well calculated to attain the objects of theinvention, and hence said detailed description of such form is not to betaken as at all defining or limiting the invention itself. That is tosay, the scope of the protection contemplated is, of course, to be takenfrom the appended claims, interpreted as broadly as is consistent withthe prior art. This invention resides substantially in the construction,combination, arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will bemore fully indicated hereinafter. I

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a cross sectional view througha part of the frame of a canning machine showing the relation betweenthe heads and platforms and the mechanism for operating the heads. andplatforms and the relation of the main power drive shaft to theremainder of can held by my novel jaw; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. l showing thecan holding jaw and the retaining magnets mounted integrally therewith.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

In the past, various attempts have been made to provide somemethod ormeans whereby cans of relatively large size are re- .tained againstcollapse due to atmospheric pressure during the steps of vacuumization,sterilization and sealing. It is the purpose of this" invention toprovide a simple, economical, practical, useful, and easily'applieddevice which can be located onto the jaw proper and hai e all thedesirable effects that were sought to attain by these variousunsuccessful attempts. It is the further purpose of this invention toconstruct a device which may be mounted integral with the jaw and to becarried therewith; which will occupy but a small space and, when the jawis applied, will operate to retain the can against collapse. The generalthought of this invention is the provision of a permanent bar magnet orelectromagnet mounted integrally within the can holding jawsand which,while the can is held by said jaws, operates to pull the wall of the canoutward against atmospheric pressure.

Referring specifically to Fig. 1 we see the operating structure such asis delineated in my copending application Serial N 0. 338,681, filedFeb. 9, 1929, wherein a disclosure is made of a machine which operatesto vacuumize, sterilize and seal containers sequentially after thefilling of said containers. Although the operation of this machine hasbeen fully described and explained in said copending application I willbriefly set forth the various parts shown in Fig. 1 in order that it maybe shown how my novel structure may be associated. with the operation ofsaid various parts. 1 is a turret provided with any convenient number ofheads or chucks 2. Cans with valve-stems are fed into these heads bymeans of the table 3 after which pneumatic connection is establishedbetween the head and a vacuum pump by means of the pipe 4 and thedistributing valves 5 and 6. These valves are adapted to rotate alongwith the turret 1 and the upper body 7 of the machine.- 8 is a levercarrying thereon a set of jaws 9, 9, the particular structure of whichjaws will be discussed more fully hereinafter with respect toFig. 2. Thearm 8 is typical of but one operating structure, many of which arecarried by the revolving framework on the machine to actuate the jawswhich hold a series of cans going through the various steps on saidmachine. The table 3 is actuated by means of the cam and rollerstructure 10 which operates in the chamber 11, which chamber is alsorotatively carried by the revolving body of the machine 7. The lever 8is provided with a roller 12 which imparts an axial movement to saidlever 8 about a pivot 13 carried on the end of an arm 14, mounted on thebody 7, under the control of cams 15. The mechanism is arranged. toswing the jaws into position around a can before the vacuumizing processstarts, thus exerting a clamping action on the exterior of the can andholding it when the table 3 drops away from under the can. I The chuckstructure 2 then makes airtight contact with'the valve stem mounted onthe upper surface of the can and the gases within the can are suckedtherefrom by meansof the airtight valve connector 16 which holds the'can,via said stem sticking from said caiywhile sucl'ring the gases fromwithin sai'd'c ang It is thus apparent that the sequence of oper'ationsto perform the particular stepthat we are considering amounts tosomething like this. A filled can is placed upon the table 3. The roller10 by going along the proper groove on acam is actuated to raise thetable 3, bring the stem attached to the upper surface of the can intothe chuck connector element 16 whereupon the chuck connector elementacts to make a sealtight connection between the pipe t and the interiorof said can. The can is-simultane ously grasped by-the jaw elements 9, 9due to the lever 8 being actuated by the cams 15. The table 3 is thenpermitted to drop away and the can is held by means of the jaw upagainst the airtight connector 16 during the process of vacuumization.The gases drawn from within the can are sucked through the element 16down the pipe 4 and out to the atmosphere. Then sterilization may beaccomplished by means of directing a flow of steam or superheated steamthrough the solid matter contained within the container and thereafterinert gases may then be shot back through the distributing valves 5 and6, as the case may be, down the pipe 4 and into the can to replace theinert gases that were therewithin. It is during the time thatvacuumization takes place that all the wellknown difficulties wereencountered due to the fact that the jaw gripping the can tends to forcethe walls thereof inward and when the air that was within the can wassucked therefrom together with any other gases that might be therewithinthe atmospheric pressure coming to play on the outside of the can would,if the can were of relatively large size, tend to cause said can tocollapse under the influence of the atmospheric pressure. I have foundthat the adaptation of my novel jaw to this machine prevents this mostundesirable effect. It is apparent that where the walls of the can arecomparatively thick with respect to the corresponding length of the canno such difiiculty would be encountered. In other words, where a can ofshort length is used there would not be much occasion to worry aboutcollapse due to atmospheric pressure during the step of vacuumization.However, it has been noted that when the can approaches the quart orgallon size the length of the can becomes prohibitive for the thicknessof the can and j the atmospheric pressure brought to bear upon the canwill act to cause a collapse usually at a point half way down the lengthof the can. It is common experience that the weakest point in a givenlever is the center point thereon when the two ends thereof aresupported and with this thought in mind the purpose of this invention isto provide some" means at this weakest point to pull outwards whennormally all the forces due to atmospheric pressure aretending to actinwards. Thus, by locating my novel jaw at a 'point' about half way downthe length of the can, by mounting in said jaw some device whereby thecan is pulled normally outwards,

and by mounting said jaw at what is apparently the weakest point alongthe length of the can I am able to prevent collapse of the troublesomelarge size cans during the various vacuumizing, sterilizing, and sealingsteps.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the body structure 7 of the revolvablemachine, as disclosed in my above mentioned copending application, isshown partially in section containing therein particularly a pipe 17which makes the proper pneumatic connection with the distributing valves5 and 6. This pipe 17 running down the center of the machine casingprovides both an inflow and an outflow path to allow the egress of airand the ingress of steam and inert gases to be used within the can. Alsomounted within the body structure may be seen the gear structure 18, thelower ball bearing structure 19, and the upper ball bearing structure20, all of which are adapted to provide the necessary rotatability ofthe body 7, 7 about the center axis of the machine which is supportedand carried on a base element 21.

Although now I have described the gen' eral operating characteristics ofmy machine somewhat after the fashion as I have described it in mycopending application hereinbefore mentioned, I do not intend to havethe steps herein mentioned nor the structure herein disclosed to betaken as at all defining or limiting the scope of this invention butintend them to be but merely illustrative and explanatory of the noveloperation and structure of my retaining jaw and to show the associationbetween a typical machine and my retaining jaw. 1

Referring particularly to the jaw structure, which constitutes in themain the body of this invention, it will be seen that in Fig. 2 I haveby dot and dash lineindicated the theoretical circumference of a givenlarge sized can which we will call 22. The jaws 9,

. 9 are hinged together about a pivot 23. The

outer lock and large jaw carries thereon ears 24, 24 through which thereare'drilled holes and through. which holes pass a bolt 25 having a head26 about which bolt is coiled a spring 31- for normally keeping the earsapart. The bolt is also threaded at its outermost end to receive thelock nuts 27. Mounted in each jaw element 9 is shown a permanent barmagnet 28 having at its one end a north" pole and at its other end asouth pole. The two north poles shown at 29, 29 are adapted to meet thecan and exert magnetic pull thereon while mechanically andsimultaneously acting as jaws. The two south poles 30, 30 are adapted tocome together and meet to form one projecting-lug 3030. It

is now apparent that the mechanism is arranged to swing the magnets 28,28 into posi-' tion around the can before the vacuumizing "process andas a necessary result of the clamping process when the jaws are broughtto clamp upon the can and hold it. Thus, while clamping the can, themagnets are brought into active coaction with the walls of the can.Thus, while the can is clamped, a pull is exerted on the exteriorthereof at the weakest point along its length and its collapse istherebyprevented.

When the vacuumizing process is completed and the inert gas is admittedto the container via the distributing valves 5 and 6 the container isthen sealed oil and the lever 8 swings back into its normal positionreleasing the jaws from" their normal position about the can andnecessarily withdraw-' ing the magnets from the proximity of the can andthus completing the cycle of operations.

I have found that the necessary pole area of the magnet that must beused is of not very great magnitude; that-the pole area if slightlylarger than the ordinary size of jaw that one would use for merelyclamping the can will suffice. I have also found that the magneticcircuit which is complete from north to south pole through the can wallitself is not greatly disturbed by the fact that the reluctance thereofis continually varied when the cansare inserted and removed from' thejaws. that the adaptation of this magnet structure to an ordinary jawcan be cheap of installation, occupy but small space and have a veryefiective, desirable and coincidental efiect.

Inasmuch as many changes may be made in the above constructions, andmany apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may bemade without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or I have also found shown inthe accompanying drawings will be interpreted as illustrative and not ina limit ing sense. It is also to be understood that the languagecontained in the following 1 claims is intended to cover all the genericand specific features of the invention herein described, and allstatements of the scope of the invention which philologically speaking,and

as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patentis:

1. In the type of apparatus described, in combination with means forvacuumizing a container subject to collapse, of magnetic means adaptedto prevent collapse of the container during the process of vacuumizingthe latter.

2. In the type of apparatus describedfin combination with means forvacuumizing a container subject to collapse, and means for holding thecan during vacuumizing, of magnetic means outside the container forpreventing collapse thereof during vacuumizing, and means whereby fluidmay be intro duced in the vacuumized container while the latter is underthe collapse preventing influence of the said magnetic means.

3. In an apparatus of the type described the combination with means forvacuumizing a container subject to collapse, of magnetic means forpreventing collapse of the container while the interior thereof issubject to sub-atmospheric pressures.

4. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combinationof means for supporting the container during vacuumization, andmagnetic-means associated with the container for supporting it againstcollapse during vacuumization.

5. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combinationcomprising a movable support for the container,

magnetic means for preventing collapse of the container duringvacuumization, and means for moving the magnetic means into cooperativerelation with the container upon movement of said movable support.

6. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combinationcomprising a movable support for the container, magnetic means movablyattached to said support, and means for moving the magnetic means intocooperation with the container during its vacuumization.

7. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combinationcompris ing a movable support for the container, magnetic means movablyattached to said support, and means cooperating with the movablesupport, means for causing it to move into cooperation with thecontainer upon movement of said movable support.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 6th day ofFebruary A. D., 1929.

WILLIAM B. FENN.

